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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27293311">Sacrificial Lion</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/TwilightKnight17/pseuds/TwilightKnight17'>TwilightKnight17</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Kinktober 2020 [7]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Persona 5, Persona Series</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Gen, Non-Consensual Groping, P5R Spoilers, Tentacles</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-10-31</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-10-31</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 18:15:47</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Mature</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,430</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27293311</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/TwilightKnight17/pseuds/TwilightKnight17</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Akira finds himself in an unpleasant situation.</p>
<p>What's there to do when you can only save one?</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Akechi Goro &amp; Kurusu Akira</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Kinktober 2020 [7]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1949275</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>4</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>52</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Sacrificial Lion</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Day 7: <strike>Rimming</strike> | <strike>Breeding</strike> | <strong>Tentacles</strong></p>
<p>Creeping ever-closer to my "Maruki is literally, not metaphorically, holding Goro hostage" scenario. One day I'll write that for real. XDDD</p>
<p>This can be read as both platonic or pre-relationship.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>One day, he was going to have to ask Lavenza why he was the one who always had to make the terrible choice. Once he could get back into the Velvet Room, anyway.</p>
<p>When he’d come to Odaiba with Goro and Kasumi to investigate the mysterious Palace, he hadn’t been expecting <em>Maruki</em>, of all people. And he certainly hadn’t expected that Kasumi was actually her sister, Sumire. And he <em>absolutely</em> had not been expecting Maruki to try to snatch her away, or for him to have control over such powerful shadows.</p>
<p>So that left them where they were now, at a stalemate. </p>
<p>On one side, Akira, with Sumire cradled in his arms, nothing actually between him and the door. </p>
<p>On the other, Maruki, with Goro held in the grasp of three or four tentacles.</p>
<p>“Kurusu-kun,” Maruki said calmly. “Please leave Yoshizawa-san here with me. I promise, it’s what’s best for her.”</p>
<p>Akira shook his head, Sumire tucked against his shoulder. “Put Goro down. Now. I know you don’t want to hurt any of us. So let us leave.” There was a tiny piece of him that was hoping Maruki would still be reasonable about this. He knew the man wasn’t a bad person. But after he’d summoned a monster to try to take Sumire away, after he’d taken Goro hostage… Akira was forced to admit that at the very least, Maruki was delusional.</p>
<p>“I’m afraid I cannot allow you to leave with both of them,” Maruki said apologetically. “If you don’t want to leave Yoshizawa-san, I can keep Akechi-kun in her place.”</p>
<p>Akira stared at him. His horror must have shown in his eyes, because Goro thrashed against his restraints and spat, “Don’t you fucking <em>dare</em> let him use me as bait. I can take care of myself, Joker. Get Yoshizawa out of here!”</p>
<p>“But…”</p>
<p>“You saw Yoshizawa. She snapped like a twig under one reminder of her trauma. Do you really want to leave her here for the good doctor to sink his claws into?” Goro tried and failed to get his sword at the right angle to slash through a tentacle. “I’m not going to be so easily susceptible to his bullshit.”</p>
<p>Maruki smiled. “I just want to show you that everyone is capable of being happy in my reality. I want you to see how your friends are doing, out in my world, but I also want you to see what I can do for the people who are suffering the most.”</p>
<p>Akira swallowed hard. “You… You can’t just change people, though. You can’t fix people like that…”</p>
<p>“I can,” Maruki said. “Look at Akechi-kun.”</p>
<p>Unwittingly, Akira’s eyes were dragged back to Goro, watching as the thick tentacles coiled tighter around his arms and torso, and thinner ones moved to wind neatly around his wrists and ankles. One crept beneath the loose fabric, the slight bulge of it visible under the leg of his bodysuit. Akira watched it move up his shin, tightening his grip on Sumire without meaning to.</p>
<p>“Wh-What are you doing?” he said anxiously.</p>
<p>“Akechi-kun rejects comfort and physical touch,” Maruki said. “Therefore, easing him into being more accepting of such things is part of an effective treatment.”</p>
<p>“Fuck <em>off</em>,” Goro demanded. “What the hell?!” He tugged against the tentacles, but they didn’t relent. The ones on his arms pulled snug, keeping his arms stretched to his sides, and the one around his leg slid higher, curling around his thigh beneath the fabric. Another slithered up, coiling around the dark helmet and delicately pulling it and the mask from his head. It gave Akira a perfect view of his eyes, slowly filling with panic.</p>
<p>“Maruki-sensei,” Akira gasped. “Please, stop. Stop it!”</p>
<p>Maruki shook his head. “It’s part of his treatment. I promise, this will be good for him.”</p>
<p>“Fucking bastard!” Goro snarled, twisting his body in an attempt to escape the touch. Another tendril circled his neck loosely, slipping beneath the neckline of his suit to curl and wiggle against his chest. Akira watched as it twitched to brush against, presumably, a nipple, based on the way Goro jolted.</p>
<p>Goro looked like he could spit fire, cursing out Maruki so venomously, it was surprising that the doctor hadn’t keeled over dead from how much poison he was putting into every word. But his words died in his throat as the tentacle around his thigh crept between his legs. Akira couldn’t drag his eyes away from the obscene bulge of it, somehow lewder beneath the fabric. Even more tentacles were winding around him, and his sword dropped from his hand as one crushed his wrist.</p>
<p>A pathetic sound slipped from his throat, and Akira finally looked back up at his face. His eyes were wide with fear, even as he bit his lip to try to stifle any more noises.</p>
<p>Akira looked down at Sumire, then back up at Goro, frantic. “Sensei, please, you have to stop!”</p>
<p>Maruki didn’t respond, just watching impassively. A sharp cry spilled from Goro; Akira didn’t know why. He couldn’t keep track of all the tentacles now. There were too many coiling around him and sliding under his clothes.</p>
<p>Akira couldn’t take any more. “Fine!” he shouted. “Take her! Just let him go; don’t do this to him! No more!”</p>
<p>Two of the tentacles rose up in front of Akira, and their grasping hands wrapped gently around Sumire. Akira didn’t fight when they carried her away, darting forward instead to catch Goro as the tentacles withdrew and dropped him.</p>
<p>“What the fuck did you <em>do?</em>” Goro demanded, but his voice was unsteady as he leaned heavily on Akira. Akira fished a goho-m from his pocket, making eye contact with Maruki as the tentacles deposited Sumire lightly in his arms.</p>
<p>“Remember what I said.” Maruki nodded to him. “Take this time, see how your friends feel in my reality. I’ll await your decision.”</p>
<p>Akira threw the goho-m down, and when the smoke cleared, they were back at the entrance of the Palace. From there, it was only a brief hop back to reality, and Goro shoved him away.</p>
<p>“What have you done?!” he snarled. “I told you to take Yoshizawa and leave!”</p>
<p>“He was…! You were…!” Akira tried, stumbling over his words. Now that they were safe, now that they were away, the situation was finally sinking in, and his breath grew shallow and unsteady. “I couldn’t just let him… You were afraid!”</p>
<p>“I can handle myself!” Goro said furiously. “Yoshizawa can’t! He’s going to warp her back into some cheerful puppet of her sister at this rate!”</p>
<p>“And what would he have done to you?!” Akira shouted, and Goro went still. Several passersby looked over curiously, but no one stopped. Akira took a step towards Goro, anger draining to a tired kind of desperation. “Sumire <em>wants</em> to be Kasumi. But I know you; you’ll fight him to the last. If he wants an example of his ‘treatment’ working, <em>what do you think he would have done to you to get one?</em>”</p>
<p>Goro stared at him, at a loss for words, and Akira looked away. “I can’t… I can’t watch someone else take you away from me.”</p>
<p>“Akira…”</p>
<p>“If you need a reason,” Akira interrupted, “that isn’t just ‘brainless sentimentality’... I know you. I’ve seen how you fight. You’re strong, and you’re fast, and you have experience. Sumire doesn’t. So if I had to storm the Palace either way, I’d rather do it with my equal standing beside me, so I have the best chance possible.”</p>
<p>Immediately afterwards, he realized, watching Goro look even <em>more</em> shocked, that he’d said ‘equals’ instead of ‘rivals’. It had been instinctive. They were partners, <em>friends</em>. He wanted Goro fighting at his side. But it was probably the wrong thing to say to a boy who only knew how to accept camaraderie under the guise of rivalry.</p>
<p>To his surprise, though, Goro just looked determinedly at the sidewalk. “See what has happened to your friends in this bullshit world. I’ll try to find any information that can help us take down Maruki. We have a week before he expects us to make a decision; we can’t waste any time.”</p>
<p>“Okay,” Akira said. He could do that. He just needed to figure out what Maruki had given them. He could snap them out of it. He had to.</p>
<p>His thoughts derailed when Goro said, very quietly, “And, Akira… Thank you.”</p>
<p>Akira nodded. “You’re welcome.” There was no reason to say more. They understood each other. </p>
<p>All that mattered now was figuring out how to fix their reality.</p>
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